BigDaddy16 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Looking for some real advice on what choice to make between the 2.Pros and Cons: let's have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittycat Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hi BigDaddy, I looked up Realize band on-line and from the info I reviewed, it's a gastric banding tool. Lapband is the slang name for the procedure. The medical term is gastric banding and whether it's a Realize band or Allergan band, it's the same tool used for gastic banding. I am not sure whether the Realize band is better than any other, as patients we don't have the choice of which band our surgeon uses. Good Luck with your decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawkchick75 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 From what I understand, the realize band is basically just a lapband, but it comes with some additional online and phone support as you are losing. I could be wrong, but I think that is the only difference. So I think either way you go you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nothereanymore Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 From what I understand I think it is a different band and it is newer. I looked at the study comparison on the Realize site and took it with a grain of salt. They don’t list were they were held and companies generally bump the numbers to their favor by comparing less comparable studies to themselves. I’m more of a fan of independent studies. Also for the lap band they have band replacements at 9 out of 299 for the lap band and 2 for theirs. If 9 out of 299 people had their bands replaced out of the thousands who have received the band from Dr. Ortiz – we’d be hearing about it on this board. I’ve only hear of a few out of the thousands of bands that Dr. Ortiz has done. So the numbers don’t make sense to me. It looks really commercial – it’s what I didn’t like about many of the bands providers. But the truth is if it keeps you from eating as much as normal it will most likely work for you. Looks like you're getting yours covered by insurance so I'd look to your doctor to guide you to the right choice. Remember, I personally choose Dr. Ortiz after allot of research and even soul searching. My husband wanted me to stay in the States. I don't care where the Doctor is as long as he provides me with the best chance of succeeding so the truth is you’re most likely going to get opinions here that are bias to Dr. Ortiz and the lap band system. It’s worked for many of us and why I personally am no longer a morbidly obese person. I’d go onto their website, see if you can find a forum like ours and look for the success stories to see if you believe it will really work for you. Try to talk to people who have received it personally. Best and good luck! Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 lapband is like Kleenex, it is a registered trademarked brand of 'band' and it is now the generic term for a gastric band. Realize is the other major 'brand' So now its a coke vs pepsi discussion. Both do the same thing. Realize is supposed to have a different port and is attached to the abdomen differently. It has multi pockets in the band instead of one continuous tube. I think Dr Ortiz prefers the Allegen band because he prefers how the port is attached. But I have no recollection why I know this, so I may have hallucinated it. I have no idea of the relative merits to either band but there are those that swear that Brand X is better than Brand Y. (Usually these people are selling something) I would focus on getting confidence in your surgeon and rely on his or her advice. They are the experts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdole Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Inamed and Realize bands have slight differences. Inamed has a port that is manually sutured to the abdomen wall. Realize has a "self anchroing port". It has a stapler type device that is placed over the port that activates 4 hooks. The hooks once activated loop around piercing the abdomen wall and lock into place. Ortiz prefers inamed because the Realize port is placed using the stapler without any direct observation. You can't see what you're attaching it to. Ortiz prefers the Inamed so that he can watch directly where and how he sutures the port to the abdomen wall. This way any risk of piercing a blood vessel is minimal. This was the reasoning he gave me when I asked him prior to surgery. Inamed's band is also different than the Realize's band. They hold a different amounts of fluid and they're inflating tubes are constructed differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimmy in MD Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Realize band also costs less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucy10 Posted February 25, 2010 Report Share Posted February 25, 2010 Realize band is not the new band. It is FDA approved band in 2007. It is just like Lap band system. 2 Years of experience in the U.S. Before going to choose one band for surgery , read this information about lap band VS realize band You get really great information here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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